All in the family

Players: Brothers Cfn Zane and Pte Bronsen Mitchell at Randwick for the Australian Service Rugby Championship. Photo by Bill Cunneen

By PTE John Wellfare

RUGBY is a family affair for brothers Cfn Zane and Pte Bronsen Mitchell, who represented Army at the interservice rugby union competition in Sydney on May 18.

The two have played in various football codes since the under-sixes along with their brother, Drew, who plays for the Queensland Reds. The family association with the game goes even further, with uncles who’ve represented Brisbane Wests and a grandfather who has also played Army Rugby. Even their mother, according to Zane, “loves her rugby”.

Zane is an aircraft technician at 5 Avn Regt in Townsville, while his brother is posted to 1CSSB in Darwin. Their games with the Army rugby team have been one of the few opportunities they’ve had to play together.

“We’ve only been lucky enough to have a couple of games together,” Bronsen said. “I think we’ve had one game with all three of us playing sideby- side, but [ASRC] is probably the second or third time I’ve played beside Zane.”

Both brothers represent their respective units in rugby and play club rugby in their posting cities, which makes getting the chance to watch each other’s games a little difficult. For their father, Enoggera-based Range Control Officer WO2 Gordon Mitchell, opportunities to see the boys play are rare.

“Dad’s pretty proud of all three of us playing rugby, so he’s a big supporter,” Zane said.

“It’s a bit hard, he’s in Brisbane, I live in Townsville and Bronsen’s in Darwin, so whenever he can he comes down with mum and watches a couple of games.”

Zane has represented the Army at the inter- Service competition for several years and said it has always been one of his favourite events, even before his brother joined the team.

“I really enjoy coming down with the Army for the inter-Service carnivals every year,” he said. “Each year you just notice the level of rugby goes up a notch, so it’s really a challenge to come down and see how you go up against the rest of the players.

“We went down to Navy [in the ASRC] by one point, but apart from that it’s been a good year.”

As for the future, Zane was selected for the ASRU side and will represent the ADF in China later this year. His brother missed out, but expects to be back representing Army at next year’s ASRC for another shot.